Hazelwood

The decision by the State Government in Victoria to reject abandonment of the Hazelwood Power station – probably the dirtiest in Australia from the viewpoint of emissions – is regrettable given that the Baillieu Government supported the closure move while in opposition. It shows that the Liberal Party is paying lip service to dealing with climate change – it wants the votes that would otherwise flow from their party if they expressed outright rejection of climate policy. The Coalition is a political party that cannot be trusted on climate.

The rejection is apparently based on cost. I’d be interested in getting some data on these costs.

Update: An executive from Hazelwood who previously worked for Alcoa has just been appointed the Victorian Government’s senior energy adviser. It is a ridiculous appointment for any government to appoint someone who for years has acted as the mouthpiece for the states’s worst carbon polluters to now advise a government nominally (at least) committed to acting on climate change issues.

3 comments to Hazelwood

As I understand it Harry, forcing Hazelwood and the La Trobe valley power generators in general to wear an ETS previously outlined (and presumably a carbon tax now)would have seen them immediately declared bankrupt and handed back to their financiers (including Australia’s Big4 banks). That would immediately tear up long term pricing contracts, whereby the new owners could up prices significantly to recoup their loans, thereby tying Labor’s carbon taxes to significant power price hikes. Political poison which is why under the Rudd ETS it was proposed to dole out free carbon credits to the La trobe, something the Greens couldn’t wear and hence their vote against the ETS with the Coalition in the Senate.

Presumably that’s still the fly in the CO2 ointment with the latest straight carbon tax regime, but perhaps that’s Gillard’s cunning plan. Groundhog day and sorry folks, but we tried our best, honest!